Snowplow



Oct. 19, 1933. G` SOULE 1,929,959

SNOWPLOW Filed Jan. 19. 1952 Jia] A 9 z'venu @e olye aoule "By zuzwez/Patented Oct. 10, 1933 'errno STATES ATENT ortica SNOWPLOW George C.Soule, South Portland, Maine, assignorY to Maine Steel Products Company,

South Portland, Maine, a corporaticn of Maine Application January 19,1932. Serial No. 587,517

3 Claims. (Cl. 37-44.)

` commonly used in dealing with the two different snow conditions mostusually encountered.

For patrol work on wide roads and with light snow, a one-way plowV isgenerally considered most efficient, for the reason that the entireblade of the plow pushes the snow one way and hence the entire blade maybe used to make both the second out as Well as the first cut through thesnow.

Where the snow is heavy, however, or where drifts have accumulated, asfrequently occurs, the efficiency of the one-way plow is almost entirelylost, due to the fact that the action of the one-way plow in pushing allthe snow one way, creates so great a side draft as to make the plowunmanageable on the road.

When these conditions of heavy snow and/or deep drifts prevail,therefore, it has been found incre efcient to use a V--plow, because theV- plow will penetrate and go straight through the heavy snow and/ordrifts whereas the side draft Vin meeting the conditions for which eachwas particularly designed, while at the saine time avoiding thedisadvantages peculiar to each type when it was used under snowconditions for which the other was best adapted. As such, my' presentplow is a plow of double purpose.

Supercially, my present plow resembles the familiar V-plow in generalappearance, but is sharply distinguished therefrom in this respect, thatthe V nose is not only offsetrelative to the major axis fore and aft ofthe plow, but that such offset itself is so carefully balanced relativeto the plow axis as to give a plow of new result.

The oset V-plow itself is neither new in the art nor particularlyeffective of result on the road, due to the fact that all such offsetV-plows with which I am familiar have entirely lacked that balance whichis so necessary if the plow is to perform eiciently its intended work.

In all such prior offset V-plows the two sides Vor mold boards of theoffset V have been of equal angle with a line fore and aft of the plow,that is to say, the included angles of the offset V have alwaysheretofore been equal to each other with` the result that the projectionof the cutter bars n on the fore and aft line above mentioned haveconsequently been unequal.

This creates a one-sided or unequal push of the snow which seriouslydetracts from the efficiency of the plow. In other words, the side draftor sidewise push cf the snow is out of balance and hence theusual offsetequal-angled V-plow cannot fail to throw the wheels of the trucksidewise when bucking a drift.

With my plow, however, I have not only offset the V nose relative to thecenter line fore and aft of the plow, but I have so designed the V-noseitself as to introduce a factor of balance in the plow which it neverheretoforepossessed and by reason of which all tendency of the plow tocreate a one-sided or unequal push of the snow plow is absolutelyavoided.

y According to my concept, the'sides of the V are disposed at differentangles to the fore and aft line of the V at all elevations when theangles are compared in planes parallel to the ground so as to afford awide-angled side and a narrowangled sidei Inasmuch as the angle of thenarrow side is a sharper angle (about 40 degrees) than that of the wideside (about degrees) the resultant of 8 the wide blunt angle and thenarrow sharp angles becomes a balancing factor which balances therelatively greater side draft created by the sharp wedge of the narrowside to the relatively lesser side draft created by the blunter wedge ofthe wide side. By thus balancing side draft, I vam ableY to penetratestraight through drifts with rny plow which with the offset equal-angledV plow heretofore used caused the wheels of the truck to be thrownsidewise olf the road.

More than this, the sharp-angled narrow side permits the fore and aftprojection of the cutter bar and cutting surface of the plow on thenarrow side to be made substantially equal to that of the m0 Suchdeflectors constitute a desirable additional continuation of thesnow-throwing surfaces of the mold boards under certain conditions ofplowing as well as preventing the snow from being thrown onto thewindshield of the truck or other propulsion Vehicle.

Similarly, my present plow may be provided at its wide side with anadjustable wing element if desired, such wing constituting in elect alateral continuation of the wide side surface of the plow nose.

In the accompanying drawing I have shown a form of offset V-plow,balanced as heretofore described, which I have found highly satisfactoryunder actual conditions of service.

In such drawing:-

Fig. l is a plan view thereof.

Fig. 2 is a front view, and

Fig. 3 is a diagram. n

The right and left hand edges of the roadway to be plowed are indicatedat R and L, respectively, in Fig. l, and the direction of travel of theplow therealong by the arrow.

My plow may conveniently be mounted in any standard manner on a truck T,the center vfore and aft line of which is indicated at A. The centerfore and aft line of the offset V nose is indicated at B.

One side or mold boardv of my oifset V nose, here shown as the left sidel0 is made shorter than the other side 11 but of sharper angle. The twomold boards of the plow therefore are at unequal angles to the fore andaft line of the V at all elevations when the angles are compared inplanes parallel to the ground. The fore and aft projection of both thenarrow side l0 and the wide side 1l are substantially the same, however,so as to equalize sidewise resistance. Both sides l0 and 11 terminate insubstantially the same transverse plane, indicated at P in Fig. 3.

Although not intending thereby to limit myself to any particular angles,I have indicated in Fig. 3 that the included angles formed by saidnarrow and Wide sides of the V are respectively 40 and 60. These anglesseem to aord a most satisfactory balancing resultant, but obviously thesides of the V might be diierently angled, depending upon many factorsof which lthe relative lengths of the sides themselves is one. In factit should be clearly understood that any departure from the equi-angledV will tend toward balance of side draft, although the chosen anglesmight result in locating the rear ends of the mold boards in otherplanes than the transverse plane above mentioned. For differentconditions and to suit the requirements -of diierent types of primaryequipment it may be advisable to use any combination of unequal anglesin the V and any plane across the rear ends of the mold board exceptthat which would be the resultant of an equi-angled V.

As heretofore explained, the combined effect of the relatively sharpVangled narrow side 10 and the relatively blunter angled wide side 11balances side pressure and prevents the plow from kicking sidewise oilthe road when bucking drifts.

Moreover, on the first trip through the snow, the sharper-angled lefthand narrow side spreads less ,snow on the left hand side of the road,thus reducing interference with traiiic, while on the second, or latertrips, the wider angled right hand wide side 11 makes a cut which issubstantially 50 percent wider than can be made by any ordinary V-plowof equivalent size.

Where desired the mold boards l0 and 11 may be continued upwardly bymeans of the deflector l extensions 12 and 13 (Fig. 2).

v These are removably and adjustably secured to the mold boards in anysuitable manner, as by bolts 14 set through the mold boards and intoelongated slots 15 formed in the deflectors themselves. Such deflectorsmay be either straight or flat in surface or may follow the curvature ofthe mold boards.

Similarly, the wide side l1 of the plow nose may be extended laterallyby means of the adjustable wing element 16 (Fig. 1) which is operativelyconnected at its front and rear ends in any usual mannerto the plowframe and braced as at 17.

While particularly applicable to snow plows, the principles of myinvention are by no means limited thereto, but on the contrary may beembodied in other plows for other uses.

Various modifications in the construction and operation of my plow maybe resorted to without departing from the spirit of my invention ifWithin the limits of the appended claims.

What I therefore claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent isz- 1. Ina truck propelled snow plow, a nose unit comprising a balanced offsetV-member having the center of its V oiset relative to the center foreand aft line of the propulsion vehicle and having its mold boardsdisposed at substantially unequal angles to the fore and aft line of theV at al1 elevations when the angles are compared in planes parallel tothe ground.

2. A nose unit as claimed in claim l, wherein the mold boards are ofunequal length and the angle of the short mold board is a relativelysharp angle and that of the long mold board is a relatively blunt angle.

3. A nose unit as claimed in claim 1, wherein the mold boards are ofunequal length but terminate in substantially the same transverse plane.

GEORGE C. SOULE.

